Guardian Order (Faction Bio)
The Guardian Order is an ancient society of demon hunters whose main purpose is combating a race of demonic spirits known as the Ma and the mortals they possess. The Guardian's are physically identical to Hylians with the only notable difference being a high percentage of magic users; regardless they consider themselves a whole separate race. History According to their lore the Guardian's were created by the Three Goddessess at the dawn of Hyrule's existence to protect the worlds other inhabitants for the demonic spirits that were sealed with in the planets crust should any break free. To aid them in their battles Goddesses granted the Guardian's with magical abilities and knowledge far above what was granted to most of Hyrules Inhabitant. In addition they were given the use of two divine beings: Arch Angle, The White Wings of the Divine and Death Angel, The Black Wings of Balance; which, upon taking a host, granted there bearers an extreme boost in power. The Guardian's Live in relative isolation on an island North West of Hyrule proper as a result there is little record or knowledge of them by other races and cultures. The rest of Hyrule first became aware of their existence during the tail end of the Demise War when the evacuation of the Hylians allowed the other races to easily distinguish them as separate entity. After the defeat of Demise the Guardians would maintain an presence in Hyrule Proper to battle the demonic remnant lead by Ghirahim to prevent him from exploiting Hylia's absence to dominate the landed remaining populace and free his master. After the defeat of the Imprisoned by the Hero of Legend and the Reincarnation of Hylia the Guardian's have cease to have a major presence in Hyrule. In the 200 years since they have only sent forces to combat the odd escaped Ma. What constant small presence they did maintain was rendered covert by the return of the Hylians from who they can't be distinguished. As a result knowledge of their existence has faded with many believing them either a myth or an extinct legend. Culture The Guardians' lives are highly dictated by religious dogma. Marriage, social class, naming and child rearing are all controlled by religious law as interpreted by the Order's Pope like leader. Social Class The order is broken down into four class determend by either ablity or heredity. These are the Ruling Class, Members of the Order, Titled Members, and the Farming Class. The largest of the classes are the Members of the Order who make up the majority of the population. The Member consist all of islands citizens who have been formally inducted as adults at age 14. All children born of a legal marriage are expected to default into this class so long as they achieve the required level of competency in their expected abilities by the time they turn 14. Those who fail to develop their talents are instead relegated to the Farmer Class. Members of the Order are broken down into four subclasses based on their abilities. These are Mages, Paladins, Healers, and Seers. The mages make up the bulk orders fighting force and contain all offensive and utility magic users. Paladins are the second largest sub-class and the only melee fighting force outside the Champion. The primary purpose of the Paladins is to act as a shield for the Mages. Healers consist of all white magic specialists lacking the physical capabilities to become a Paladin. Seers are the smallest of the sub-classes and the newest. The seers consist of all of those still possessing any telepathic and or clairvoyant abilities. In the best these powers as well as various forms of telekinesis were wide spread, however the with the complete lose telekinesis and the dwindling prevalence of the remaining psychic powers it became necessary those who still possessed them as a special class. The Ruling Class traditionally consists of the order supreme leader Patriarch of the Order, The Champion of the Order, and the leaders of each member subclass. Unlike the rest of the order the Ruling class is, as their leaders title suggests tends to be Patriarch with positions inherited by male primogeniture provided that the heir has developed the require proficiency in the necessary ability. The Patriarch acts as both state and religious head is considered infallible, and therefore any claims made are considered divine law. This acts as the source of the orders dogma and for some members, has been blamed as the cause of the their dubious marital laws and gross misunderstanding of genetics. The Champion of the Order is military leader of the order and is the Patriarchs second in command. The Champion acts as both a General and secret weapon for the Order as they are required to master a specific style of melee combat for dealing with extremely powerful foes that the order can be expected to face if to powerful of a Ma breaks free. The four Class sub-leaders are in theory the most powerful members of their area. They are expected to act as both sub-commanders under the Champion for their specific area, and act as the patriarch's advisers to the same extent. The head of the Paladin's is the Lord Protector arguably the most politically powerful of the four. As well as his normal duties the Lord Protector is the person guard of the Patriarch and when in combat will often support the Champion directly. This makes the Lord Protector the de facto Vice-Commander under the Champion and the third in command of the Order as a whole. The head of the mages of the Grand Wizard and is the only non-bloody related ruling class seat. The Grand Wizard is chosen from the apprentice or apprentices of the previous Grand Wizard. Additionally those who are able to learn arcane magic beyond genetic elemental abilities through scholarly pursuits are eligible to become an apprentice. Of course only those born to the mage sub-class are even allowed to attempt this. The leader of the seer Sub-Class is the Eye of the Order. The Eye is the only Ruling position that is not restricted to males as the diminishing frequency and potency telepathic makes limiting the pool of candidates is counter-productive. As the Eye provides the Patriarch with prophecies anyone who holds the position as the unique opportunity to manipulate the nation and culture as a whole. Lastly the leader of the Lord Hospitaller; who, unlike the others, functions according to the norm. As the ruling classes are mostly hereditary, they have become associated with certain families over the centuries. The Patriarchs has thus far all been of the Chamberland family. The Champion and Lord Protector are typically of the Ciel and Chevalier families with rare temporary exception cause by early deaths. The Ten family were consistently the Eye of the Order until a loss of ability saw it transfer to the Kororo family in AD-1947. The position of Lord Hospitaller has had a consistent bloodline; however, a they high frequency of potential male heir become Paladins instead of healers had lead to many cases of grandsons from eldest daughters taking the position. This naturally results in a change in family name every few generations. The Grand Wizard is not hereditary. By AD-1200 the traditional structure of the Ruling Class has fallen apart some what. The Champion of the Order has been left vacant for 14 years of the defect of the the current holder left the Order with other anyone able to use the require sword techniques. The Lord Protector has retired with in the last year due to age without have ever had any children. The Grand Wizard has been vacant since AD-1974 when the current holder died and his apprentice, the orders only remaining Wizard, was sent to act as the Ambassador to the Hylians. Even the Patriarch's seat is up in the air as in the two hundred year life of the current Patriarch he has yet to produce a child that inherited his families longevity. As a last resort the Patriarch created several titles on Soldat du Ciel who is arranged to marry his remaining granddaughter, apprentice to the current Lord Protector, and last male of the Ciel family though lacking mastery of the Champion Sword Style. The titles of Master Paladin of the Order and Right Hand of the Patriarch give Soldat the role of Champion and Lord Protector, while the title of Successor Apparent to the High Seat give him the right to act as interim and regnant Patriarch until said time that he and his fiance marry and produce and eligible son. Title Members are otherwise normal Members of the Order who fill a specialized roll outside standard combat formations. These are usually jobs that require a particular ability and are chosen form who ever among the members best demonstrates these talents. Notable examples of Titled Members are the Guards of the Essence Gems referred to as Dancer of the Element, and the ambassadors to various Hyrulean Nations known as the Enlace. The Patriarch has been know to create titles when he feels fit. Though many times will claim they are positions that was always existed just left vacant in recent years. The Farm class consists everyone that was not inducted into the order at the age of 14 and are responsible for the supporting the orders logisticlly. This includes not only farming, but fishing, carpentry and house servitude. As members of the farm class were never inducted into the order and never received an adult name when they turned 14, they are not legally considered citizens or adults. As a result several restrictions are placed on them, notably they are not allowed to continue to train or practice any magical abilities. They are also forbidden form marrying or having children; though in practice this is unrnforced so long as they only breed with other farm class members. While officially the Guardian Order believes it is impossible for the children of the farm class the develop any magical abilities, it in reality does happen from time to time. These cases are always covered up, either by the Order's leadership to prevent a contradiction to the dogma from being known, or by the child's parents in fear of what the Order will do to keep the secret. Marriage Law All a marriages in the order are arranged. All couples are paired off as dictated by the Order's leadership typically with the intention of providing offspring with the appropriate skills while avoiding accidental inbreeding. Such laws are supported by a gross misunderstanding of genetics written into early texts and the belief that the Order's existence one is unsustainable by design and thus careful control of reproductive pairing is necessary to prolong their existence. In theory this works by reducing the chance of incest brought on by the society's isolation; which would eventually result in impotent offspring. However, social class divides have farther reduced the already limited breeding pool; which, in light of evidence by abilities scene in offspring defectors have sired with normal Hylians, has lead to the view that the current leadership is either failing or intentionally miss leading the order about aspects of their laws. While extra marital affairs are out right prohibited by law, they at not completely unheard of. In general such relationships are tolerated so long as they're kept secret and no offspring is produced. In the advent of a bastards, the children is typically, prevents from learning magic, placed in the farmer class, had knowledge of their parentage covered up. Known Members Patriarch Roderick of Chamberland Lord Protector - Chevalier Champion - du Ciel Rejectio no Ten Mariko Ten* Mrs. - Lumière Mrs. - du Ciel Veritas du Ciel Richter of Seismite Soldat du Ciel Tendresse de Lumière Téméraire du Ardent-Âme Kamen Viento* Voie dès Ciel *denotes members of the farm class Category:Epoch Factions Category:Link64Gogetta